Adjustable Speed Drives Tutorial
Adjustable Speed Drives Tutorial
Adjustable Speed Drives Tutorial
The simplest and least expensive way to control the speed of a process or piece of equipment is to
operate all the equipment at full speed.
C Prior to the advent of the AC Adjustable Speed Drive, many technologies have been used,
although each has its inherent advantages and disadvantages.
C They operate by varying the frequency of the AC voltage supplied to the motor using solid
state electronic devices.
C These systems are fairly expensive but provide a higher degree of control over the operation
and in many cases, reduce the energy use enough to a least offset if not more than pay for the
increased cost.
C ASD’s allow precise speed control of a standard induction motor and can result in significant
energy savings and improved process control in many applications.
C Can control the speed of a standard squirrel cage NEMA type B induction motor.
C Suitable not only for new applications, but also for retrofit on existing motors.
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Adjustable Speed Drive (ASD) Function
120 X Frequency
Synchronous Speed '
Number of Poles
C Motors speed can be changed by altering the electrical frequency, the # of poles, or both.
C Motor speed can be changed by altering the frequency of the electrical supply:
C By varying frequency, we can adjust the speed over a wide range or vary the speed precisely
using precise changes in the electrical frequency input to the motor.
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Power and Torque
ASD's actually control both frequency and voltage simultaneously to maintain a constant volts/hertz
ratio which keeps current flow similar to full speed conditions.
C This allows the motor to draw full current at any speed and produce full torque as motor
speed changes.
C What happens to the Horsepower when we lower the speed and torque using frequency?
Speed (in RPM) x Torque (in pound&feet)
Horsepower '
5,252
Some specially designed motors meant for use with ASD’s are designed to operate at higher than
normal speeds at frequencies above 60 hertz.
C Increasing frequency above 60 hertz makes the motor run faster than normal and creates two
primary concerns:
1. Was the motor or the load it drives designed to operate at these increased speeds?
S Many motors and devices were not mechanically balanced to operate at increased
speeds and will create vibration, mechanical and safety problems.
2. ASD's are not capable of increasing voltage so as frequency increases above 60 hertz, the
torque produced starts to decrease.
At some point of increased speed we may not be able to produce enough torque to drive the load and
at this point, the motor will slow even with increasing frequency.
C This point is different for each manufacturer's motor and dependant on the torque required by
the load. Only the manufacturer can help determine when this occurs.
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ASD Advantages & Disadvantages
Adjustable Speed Drives have a number of advantages and disadvantages compared to other types of
variable speed controls including:
Advantages Disadvantages
Adjustable Speed Drives can be used to save significant amounts of energy in process operations
compared to traditional control methods where the load or speed of the operation varies.
C AC Adjustable Speed Drives are among the most efficient types of speed control when used
on axial (variable torque) loads like centrifugal fans, pumps and compressors.
S As the motor reduces the operating speed of the fan, pump or compressor the
horsepower required to operate the system is greatly reduced.
S This is a major advantage of the ASD and one of the primary reasons ASD’s have
become so popular in many process operations.
C Variable torque loads include most centrifugal and axial pumps, fans and blowers and many
mixers and agitators.
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Constant Torque Loads
Constant torque loads include most conveyors, positive displacement and reciprocating pumps, and
compressors.
An ASD acts like a reduced voltage starter to limit the amount of in-rush current when the motor
starts.
C The ASD can generally limit the in-rush current to a maximum of 150%.
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Advantages - Lower System Maintenance
C All of these are wear items and can add to the overall maintenance of the process control
plant.
C The ASD does not cycle motors on and off, as commonly seen with certain processes. By
eliminating the cycling of these motors, the variable frequency drive eliminates the amount
of in-rush and the torque pulsations felt throughout the system.
C The ASD can be bypassed in a matter of seconds where other types of speed control may be
down for hours or even weeks, while it is being repaired if there is not a spare control.
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ASD Disadvantages
ASD's are not the best choice for all variable speed applications. Some of the drawbacks to using an
ASD (which are generally the advantages to using other types of speed controls) are as follows:
The initial cost of an ASD is generally greater than other types of variable speed controls mentioned
and is a common obstacle for a process plant to install the ASD.
C Pay-back from energy savings has traditionally been used to justify installation of ASD’s
however improvements in process control are increasingly being considered.
C The energy savings payback is generally low for applications where the average speed
requirement is near the motors rated speed level.
Disadvantage - Maintenance
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As a rule of thumb, you can generally take a fully loaded Class B insulation motor down to 50
percent speed on constant torque loads without overheating.
C You can generally take a fully loaded Class F insulation motor down to approximately 20
percent speed without overheating the motor.
C When a Class F insulation motor needs to be run below 20 percent speed on a constant torque
application, the motor needs to be derated.
The output electrical waveform generated by the ASD is not a pure sinewave and includes harmonic
distortion which is supplied to the motor.
C The harmonics are multiples of a fundamental frequency with a current component and the
current component will create heat in the motor.
C As a rule of thumb, ASD's will create between 5 to 8 percent extra heating in a motor as
compared to that same motor running on a sinusoidal waveform from the power line.
C One way to overcome this problem is to use a motor with at least Class F insulation or an
inverter rated motor with Class M insulation.
The ASD is a solid state electronic load and will cause waveform distortion to be induced on the
input electrical power supply.
C Operations using ASD’s in the vacinity of sensitive electronic equipment should consider
including either an isolation transformer, or line reactors on the input of the drive to protect
the other equipment from this potential problem.
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Types of AC ASD's
There are three different types of ASD's on the market that primarily
differ in the type of rectification they use to convert AC to DC and
back to AC.
The VVI is the oldest AC drive technology and was the first AC
drive to gain acceptance in the industrial market.
C The VVI is sometimes called a “six-step drive” due to the shape of the voltage waveform it
sends to the motor.
C VVI drives are fairly economical between 25 and 150 horsepower for ranges of speed
reduction from 15 to 100% (about 10 to 60 Hertz).
C These drives are also used widely on specialty high speed applications (400 to 3000 Hertz).
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
During low speed operation (below 15-20 Hz) cogging can be a problem where the jerky motion of
the motor shaft can create problems for bearings, gears, or gear reducers.
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Current Source Input (CSI)
The CSI is very similar to the VVI except that it is more sensitive to current as opposed to a VVI
drive which is more sensitive to voltage.
C CSI drives are usually lower cost above 50 horsepower than VVI drives for pumps and fan
applications.
C The efficiency of a CSI drive may not be as high as a VVI drive and may not provide a total
energy saving package compared to other drives.
C Due to the current characteristics produced by the CSI, cogging can be a problem at low
speeds similar to the VVI.
C The voltage output is somewhat closer to the regular sine wave expected by the motor except
for the sharp spikes and
sags.
Advantages:
High Efficiency
Optional Regeneration
Capability
Inherent Short Circuit Protection
Capable of bringing other motors
on Line at full voltage
Disadvantages:
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Pulse Width Modulated (PWM)
These drives are the newest technology and use sophisticated power electronics to accomplish the
same frequency and voltage control.
C They provide good efficiency with very little motor heating associated with the other types of
drives.
C Pulse Width Modulated or PWM drives provide the best output current to operate the motor
and are becoming very popular for adjustable speed applications.
C The current supplied to the motor has no notching to any great degree and is representative of
what the motor expects.
Advantages:
- High Efficiency
- Wide controllable speed
range
-Ride through capability
-Open Circuit Protection for
ride through capability
-Constant Power Factor
regardless of speed
-Multi motor operation from
one drive
-No cogging problems.
-Competitive Price.
Disadvantages:
Extra Hardware required for
line regenerative capability.
Complexity of equipment is high compared to VVI and CSI.
Some PWM drives produce significant audible noise.
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ASD Example Problem (Variable Torque Load)
An existing 3 phase, fully loaded 100
horsepower motor with 92% efficiency
drives a water pump that has a variable load.
C A flow control valve is used to reduce the water flow rate to the plant for normal operations.
100 hp
--------- X 0.746 = 81 kilowatts INPUT to motor
0.92
Need the maximum load on the motor at any time and estimated duty cycle outlining expected
percentage rating of the load and operation hours at that level.
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Do not assume 75 percent flow equals 75 percent load. For fans and pumps, the load varies as the
cube of the fan or pump speed.
100 hp
--------- X 0.746 = 81 kW X 2 hours/day X 7 days/week X 52 weeks/yr = 58,968 kWh
0.92
42.2 hp
--------- X 0.746 = 34.2 kW X 12 hrs/day X 7 days/week X 52 weeks/yr = 149,386 kWh
0.92
12.5 hp
--------- X 0.746 = 10.1 kW X 6 hrs/day X 7 days/week X 52 weeks/yr = 22,058 kWh
0.92
$15,000
------------- = approximately 0.87 years or 10.5 months
$17,178.72
Installation of the ASD makes sense as long as it will last at least 0.87 years. This ASD was rated
with a service life of 50,000 hours.
50,000 hours
-------------- = 6.9 years average life in this operation
7,280 hours
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